Of Time Masters and Time Lords
by KitKatt0430
Summary: The TARDIS accidentally slips through another crack between realities. While waiting for the TARDIS to ready herself for the trip back home, the Doctor meets a familiar face. (Or Rip runs into the Doctor while looking for a trouble causing time traveler and hijinks ensue.)


Summary: The TARDIS accidentally slips through another crack between realities. While waiting for the TARDIS to ready herself for the trip back home, the Doctor meets a familiar face.

(Or Rip runs into the Doctor while looking for a trouble causing time traveler and hijinks ensue.)

Notes: For Day 2 of Rip Appreciation Week - Crossovers, Fusions, and AUs

_**Of Time Masters and Time Lords**_

The TARDIS crashed to a halt and the Doctor picked herself up off the ground.

"Good thing Graham wasn't around to see that landing," she muttered to herself as she checked the readouts. "He still won't let me live down how long it took me to get them home the first time. Or the thing with the frog army. Or the woolly rebellion reference. Not taking them to see that, no matter how much they ask."

Most of the power was down, which was odd, and it took the Doctor a few moments to actually get anything to show up on the readout screen at all. When it did, her hearts fluttered a moment at the thought that maybe... but, no, this wasn't the same universe. If she met Rose here, it wouldn't be her Rose.

Probably for the best. Running into the meta-crisis version of herself would likely be too messy anyway.

"Well, lovely," the Doctor murmured to her TARDIS, "how about I take a look outside, shall I? See where you've brought me this time. You just rest and recharge, alright?"

Slipping out of the TARDIS, she inhaled deeply, tasting the air as much as smelling it. Felt a lot like the Earth in the early 2000s, no later than 2050. But this was a completely different reality. So she could have it all wrong.

Checking her pockets one last time - sonic screwdriver, psychic paper, various bobbles, and ah, yes, there it was, loose change in US denominations - the Doctor headed for a paper stand on the street. One purchased newspaper later and she headed to a nearby bench to sit and read. Opal City, June 2019, United States of America. It was pride month and there was supposed to be a parade in the morning. That sounded lovely. Maybe she'd stay and attend. Should be able to get in with her psychic paper if there were any tickets necessary.

After a little more skimming of the newspaper, the Doctor folded it all up and stuck it in the basket under the newspaper stand - the next person who wanted it could have the paper for free - and then she stuck her hands into her pockets, picked a direction at random, and just... moseyed along.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right place, Gideon?" Rip asked, scanning the time stream.

"This is where I tracked back the changes in the time stream to," she responded immediately. "The ripples are small and the first major change isn't for another five years, but this is definitely where the timeline changes start. Damian Walsh is going to be injured at the Pride Parade tomorrow, causing a series of complications to his health that eventually cause him to retire from politics before his career has really even begun. He never becomes president and the social reforms he'd have ushered in never happen. Instead the United States gets yet another president who cares more about big business than the people and leads directly to the United States of America being formally renamed the Fascist States of America. Far less catchy, if a bit more honest."

Rip stared at Gideon's holographic interface blankly for a long moment, then said, "you've been spending too much time debating politics with Sara."

The other Legends were currently on break. Sara was visiting with her parents, splitting her time between Central City and Star City. Jax and Stein were both helping out with some problem at STAR Labs as a favor to the Flash. Rory and Snart were probably stealing something. Nate and Ray were showing Amaya around Star City (and if they thought they were being subtle about all three of them dating, then Rip had some desert property in 3042 Arizona to sell them). All of which left Rip alone with Gideon when the anomaly was detected.

It was just a short hop - spatially and temporally - away and didn't look to be something that required the whole team to fix. So Rip had Gideon take him there.

He could spend the day reconnoitering and if he thought he needed backup after all? He could easily jump back to pick up his crew.

"Alright then," Rip muttered, heading toward's the ship's embarkation ramp. He checked his ear to make sure his link to Gideon was securely in place and then wandered out. The Waverider was cloaked, as usual, and he made a note of the parking spot. There was a blue police box nearby that was rather out of place, but would make locating the Waverider again easy enough.

Except... the box was very, very out of place and Rip's eyes seemed to want to coast right over it. Making the box stick out even more, to Rip anyway.

He frowned and circled it. Very similar to the police boxes that used to be all over the place in England. Not a perfect replica, but close. Curious, Rip tried opening the doors. For a moment he thought they might open, but then nothing. The doors rattled but did not give. He knocked and called hello, but no answer was forthcoming.

Hopefully the police box wasn't important after all. Still... worth giving another look over later. He'd have to grab his lockpicks first, but Rip wanted to reconnoiter around town first.

* * *

The Doctor had been headed towards where she'd left the TARDIS after picking up some more information on the pride events scheduled for the next day - and gotten an adorable little aro, ace, and genderqueer flags to pin to her coat - when she'd seen a quite familiar face headed in the opposite direction.

She knew it wasn't him. Not really. Yet... the name "Rory Williams?" popped out of her mouth anyway.

The man in the coat - the man with Rory's face - kept walking, though he did glance about as though to see whom she might've been speaking too.

The Doctor sighed. "Sorry to bother you; you just look rather like someone I used to know."

"Oh, me?" He turned to look at her, his voice taking the same familiar cadences that Rory's had once hit.

"Yes. Anyway, sorry for disturbing you." She headed for the TARDIS, expecting he'd keep walking off but... he stood there instead, watching in what might've been curiosity or concern. Until she was a few steps away from the TARDIS, anyway.

"That's not actually a Police Box, is it." He's giving her a narrowed eye'd stare when she turns to look at him.

Ah. Well... seemed not-Rory might be someone to worry about after all.

"Of course not, it's a replica," she tried anyway. "Pretty sure there weren't any of these in the States, though London certainly had them for the longest time." Most people don't even notice the TARDIS, what with the distortion filter she put off. That this man could see through through the filter so easily... was a touch disquieting really.

* * *

Rip is not amused in the slightest. Especially with Gideon in his ear telling him she's picking up faint energy readings from the Police Call Box now. Artron energy. It's a form of temporal radiation - rare, but not particularly harmful. Only time travelers would ever utilize it.

"You're here to stop Damian Walsh from becoming the first trans President of the United States," he realizes... well, guesses. She doesn't look like a time traveling bigot, especially not with what looks like an early variation of a flag for one of the non-binary identities on her lapel, but... that'd be an easy way to divert suspicion right?

"I would never! I just crashed here by accident." The woman blushed and then sighed, "fell through a crack between realities, actually. It'll take time before my ship powers up, so I'm just taking in the sights while I'm here. No plans to alter history and certainly not something like that."

There's something about her that Rip can't quite put his finger on, but... he wants to trust her. "Well then. Someone is planning to alter history so that Damian Walsh is injured in such a way today that he retires long before his presidential run due to health issues. If its not you, then there's another time traveler besides us in the area. And I can't rule out that it isn't you. Just because you say you wouldn't doesn't mean that your blundering about in a reality not your own won't have unexpected side effects." He crossed his arms and scowled at her.

"So, what, you're planning on keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't alter history?" She looks quietly amused by this.

"Yes."

"Well, if we're going to be spending time together, I suppose introductions are in order. I'm the Doctor."

Rip waited a moment, but no name was forthcoming. "Just the Doctor?"

"Yup."

He hesitated a moment, then offered his own name. "Rip Hunter."

"Well then, Rip, if you're going to be wandering around during the city's annual Pride weekend, we're going to need to get you some swag."

Which was why an hour later Rip was eating dinner with a blonde woman known only as the Doctor with a demi-sexual flag pin on his jacket. And also an assortment of paraphernalia in his coat pockets to take back for the others.

(Sara would absolutely adore the bi flag colored penguin he found.)

* * *

It wasn't often that the Doctor ran into fellow time travelers who were there to protect the timeline, not muck around with it. So while Rory... no, not Rory. Rip. So while Rip's suspicion was a tad annoying, the Doctor could understand why he felt that way.

"So, tell me about this Damian Walsh fellow?" the Doctor asked while they sat in a booth at a pizza parlor, waiting for their dinner to arrive. "What's he supposed to be up to when he gets injured? And when will that happen?"

"Tomorrow, mid afternoon. He's on a float that'll careen out of control and crash. He'll incur spinal injuries that never quite heal right due to his surgeon's shoddy work."

The Doctor nodded. "So, maybe we should check out the float. Make sure its working order, not sabotaged?"

"That... would be a good place to start," Rip allowed. Still suspicious then.

"In the morning, then? We can meet up outside my ship," the Doctor offered.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight," Rip insisted, a touch steely in tone. Then, reluctantly, "you could stay aboard my ship for the night."

She opts not to tell him she doesn't need as much sleep as a human. He doesn't need to know what she really is.

* * *

Rip sends the Doctor to stay in what used to be Nate's quarters, before he started bunking with Ray.

(Rip wonders if Amaya will move in with them or keep her own bunk for the sleeping space it afforded her, considering the beds weren't really meant for two, much less three. He's waiting, with almost gleeful patience, for one of them to finally ask if it were possible to upgrade the bed. It was, Gideon could do so easily. Rip's having too much fun listening to them grumble about the lack of space to just tell them, however.)

After instructing Gideon to keep an eye on the Doctor, Rip tries to go to sleep. He goes through his normal evening routine. A cup of chamomile tea, read for half an hour, then went to bed.

Where he tossed. And turned. And could not sleep.

Nights with insomnia were the worst.

Rip sighed and got up and padded to the commissary, expecting it to be empty.

Instead, there's the Doctor, chatting with Gideon about... AI rights?

"Captain Hunter and the rest of the crew do treat me largely as a person, another member of the crew," Gideon was saying. "And I do consider my creator to be my father. Dr. Barry Allen; he's a speedster, as are my human siblings... ah, Captain, do you care to join our conversation?"

"Thank you Gideon. Doctor." Rip requisitioned some more tea and then settled at the same table as the Doctor. "Met many AIs, then Doctor?"

"Oh, loads. To be honest, though, your situation here with Gideon reminds me a bit of these brain and brawn cruisers from the 2400s in my reality. Near human race out in the Grape/Pear/Apple galaxy hadn't quite gotten to the point of AIs yet, but they learned out to augment their own brains to manage the vast amounts of multitasking needed to run ships and even space stations. So people dying of incurable diseases would volunteer; as long as the disease didn't affect their brains, they could shed their dying body and become the very ship itself. Quite ingenious really."

"I would be absolutely fascinated to meet someone who underwent such a process," Gideon enthused. "It would be interesting to compare experiences."

Rip smiled, despite himself. He wanted to maintain his suspicions of the Doctor, but it was hard to dislike someone who respected Gideon so easily. He drank his tea and quietly let the ladies - did the Doctor count as a lady? She used she/her pronouns, but was genderqueer, so perhaps she didn't like being referred to as a lady? - well, he let the two others chat, occasionally interjecting a thought here or there. His mind wandered and he was suddenly reminded of how the Doctor had caught his attention in the first place.

"Who is Rory Williams?" he asked quietly. "Or who was he?"

"Rory... Rory was a dear friend. Him and his wife, Amelia. She was a spitfire, redheaded and so sure of herself. Rory was quieter, but ever so supportive of her. They... they're gone now. They lived out happy lives and grew old and died with children and grandchildren who loved them dearly. I met some of them, even, to see what kind of lives they had. But... there was a temporal anomaly. They were... lost in the past and with the anomaly in place, I couldn't reach them even with my ship. Not without creating a paradox that might've..." the Doctor trailed off. "It was two life times ago and at the same time it feels like yesterday.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Rip told her, quietly. "I... I lost my wife and son a few years ago. It was... difficult for me to accept they were gone and... I'm ashamed to admit I nearly broke time trying to get them back before i finally accepted they were gone. I can't... I can't imagine the sort of strength it must have taken to move on without your friends."

"I almost didn't. Went and became a bit of a hermit for a while before... I met someone whose very existence challenged me. She taught me that I had to move on from grief, whether I liked it or not. And, as she died as well, I did not like it at all." The Doctor smiled wistfully. "I've got something of a new fam now. Ryan, Yaz, and Graham. They weren't on board when my ship slipped between the cracks in reality, but they're around a lot these days. Make feel like I'm really experiencing life to the fullest again. What about your crew? The ones Gideon was telling me about."

"I suppose," Rip said slowly, thoughtfully, "that they've become my new family as well."

* * *

In the morning, Rip and the Doctor headed out to check on the floats for the pride parade. With Gideon directing Rip from his ear piece, they made good time in reaching the right float before the parade would start.

The Doctor kept watch while Rip checked over the engine and the brakes.

"It's been sabotaged already. The engine's been damages such that it'll overheat by mid day," Rip reported.

Pulling out her sonic screwdriver, the Doctor moved away from the garage doors and peered over Rip's shoulder. "Should be an easy enough repair. Just need to hook up a new hose, refill the radiator, and..." she twitched the settings on the sonic to just the right one and pointed it at the engine. "It'll be good as new in no time. Good thing we're in a garage full of car parts, right?"

Rip snorted in amusement and then went about retrieving the right parts for the engine while. A few minutes and a little team work later and the engine was in tip top condition and Rip clearly wanted a sonic screwdriver of his own. It was almost adorable how jealously and longingly he looked at the device before the Doctor tucked it away in her pockets again.

"You know, not too long ago I helped prevent Rosa Parks from having her life altered by a time traveling racist," the Doctor mused, thoughtful. "This feels a little bit the same, protecting the history of an important trans man from a bigot who wants to stop him."

"We still haven't seen any trace of the saboteur, though." Rip frowned and then added, "Rosa Parks was quite a big name in history here as well. She wasn't the only person to chose civil disobedience in refusing to move seats in a bus, but her name became the most well known and set off one of the largest boycotts."

"It was the same way in my reality. Wonderfully kind woman; it was an honor to meet her." The Doctor smiled fondly. Quite a few of her companions over the years would've loved to have met Rosa.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to keep an eye out for the other time traveler," Rip said. "We'll need to keep close to the float - and to Mr. Walsh."

"Right. Well, we should probably head out before we're caught in here..." The Doctor quickly led the way out into the pre-dawn streets. It looked like the parade route was already being cordoned off.

* * *

Rip had never been fond of parades. Too loud and garish for his tastes, though he did at least understand why others enjoyed them. The press of people was often too much for him, however, and he found himself unwillingly distracted by the crowds.

He was actually rather grateful to have the Doctor there with him, as she was the one who saw the man with a very out of place looking gun. It looked rather like the one Rip carried.

Hopefully this wouldn't devolve into a shoot out. That could easily have even worse repercussions on history if shots went wild in the crowd.

The float turned the corner where, in another timeline, it might've careened into a building instead, and atop the float Damian Walsh waved the crowd and sang about a better tomorrow. Their suspect turned around, grimacing with his fists clenched tight... and he caught sight of Rip right as Rip saw his face as well.

"Danny Turpin," Rip muttered, eyes widening in recognition. "I always knew he was an ass, but I'd have never guessed he held any sort of queerphobic prejudices."

"Acquaintance of yours?" the Doctor muttered, even as they began making their way out the crowd, Turpin clearly following the distance.

"I used to be part of an organization known as the Time Masters. Ostensibly we were protecting the time line and preventing corruption or paradoxes, but... it turned out the upper management were in fact rewriting time to benefit themselves instead. My crew and I put a stop to it, but that dissolved the organization. Turpin used to be a Time Master as well."

How many other former Time Masters were out there, fixing time or trying to manipulate it to their whims? The question often worried Rip, but this was the first time he'd have to confront the answer. At least one other, so far.

"Swap jackets with me and give me your hat," the Doctor said, urgently. "I can lead him past you and you can get the drop on him."

Rip nodded and swapped with her, letting the Doctor disappear into an alleyway without him while Rip held off to the side, Doctor's jacket folded over his arm while he pretended to peruse the wares of a vendor. Turpin walked into the alley and Rip followed behind. And when Turpin whirled around to hit Rip, Rip got the first punch instead. Knuckles aimed at the other Time Master's solar plexus. He tried to catch the man's arms, to restrain him, but Turpin stumbled away and reached for something in his pocket. And then froze, the Doctor's hand touching Turpin's neck.

"Venusian martial arts," she said with a bright grin at Rip. "What's that in his hand?"

Rip delicately removed the tech from Turpin's grip and then slapped some cuffs on the man, taking away his gun too. "Should be fine to let him go for now," Rip observed, eyeing the unusual item he'd just liberated. "Single use temporal jump point," Rip finally deduced, though it was different from the ones he'd seen before. "Tend to scramble the mind on use, though. Temporary amnesia."

"It's not single use," Turpin taunted mockingly.

"What were you going after Damian Walsh for," Rip demanded, putting the device away in his own pocket for later study. "You might be a right arsehole, but I never figured you for a bigot."

"Oh, I'm not. Don't care much either way. I was hired."

"Hired by whom?"

"Don't want to give away all my secrets," Turpin mocked, grabbing something on a chain around his neck - another damn jump point - and disappearing in a flash of bright light.

"I should've cuffed his arms behind him," Rip sighed in frustration.

"Well, at least we've got the rest of Pride to enjoy?" the Doctor offered, her face sporting a hesitantly optimistic smile. "The TARDIS - that's my ship - won't be ready to depart for another couple of hours. So I could use the company, if you don't mind sticking around to keep this accidental reality hopper out of trouble."

As much as Rip knew he ought to head back and start Gideon on analyzing the jump point - assuming that's what it really was - and attempting to track down Turpin while gathering his team... when was the last time he'd actually done something fun for himself? The Doctor wouldn't be here much longer and it turned out he truly did enjoy her company so...

"Gideon," he said.

"Yes Captain?"

"Start tracing the energy from the jump point that was just used. When we gather up the crew this evening, I'd like to have his likely whereabouts narrowed down to a five year radius a most."

"Of course Captain. And, might I say, have fun wandering today's events."

"Thank you, Gideon." Rip smiled at the Doctor. "I saw a few interesting vendors out there earlier. Care to see what's out there?"

"I can't wait." The Doctor beamed in response.


End file.
